First Interstate Bank Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Interstate Bank lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,569 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of First Interstate Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Flagship Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $366.50 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $428.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.